Coldplay, Jay-Z, Death Cab for Cutie, Vampire Weekend, The Crystal Method, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Junkie XL, Wintersleep, Buck

Tom Petty
Upon the release of their first album in the late '70s, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were shoehorned into the punk/new wave movement by some observers who picked up on the tough, vibrant energy of the group's blend of Byrds riffs and Stonesy swagger.

Dave Seaman
Producer, remixer and DJ Dave Seaman edited Mixmag and helped found Stress Records. As a part of the International Dance Music Award-winning production team Brothers in Rhythm, Seaman has remixed tracks by artists like Garbage, Placebo and Alanis Morisette.

DJ Shadow
DJ Shadow's Josh Davis is widely credited as a key figure in developing the experimental instrumental hip-hop style associated with the London-based Mo' Wax label. His early singles for the label, including "In/Flux" and "Lost and Found (S.

Jay-Z
Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a youth to eventually become the reigning rapper of New York City and, in turn, a major-label executive following his short-lived retirement from music-making.

The Crystal Method
L.A.'s Crystal Method have been referred to as America's answer to the Chemical Brothers. A dance-based electronic duo with a definite rock band feel, the comparison would seem appropriate, although it tends to erase what makes the group distinct: a solid base in American hip-hop...

Cut Chemist
As well as being one of the ablest solo turntablists on the globe, Cut Chemist is also a member of two highly rated crews: underground rap kings Jurassic 5 and the Los Angeles Latin funk band Ozomatli.

Junkie XL
The big-beat electronica project Junkie XL was largely the work of Amsterdam-based remixer Tom Holkenborg, previously known for his work with acts like Nerve and Fear Factory. Beginning his career at the age of 14, Holkenborg initially played in area funk and reggae units, later...

Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie's rise from small-time solo project to emotive, Grammy-nominated rock quartet is one of indie rock's greatest success stories. Launched in the bayside college town of Bellingham, WA, the group was originally a side project for singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard, an...

Sia
Sia (full name Sia Furler) hails from the famously laid-back Australian city of Adelaide. Boasting a powerful, soulful voice, she worked the Adelaide jazz circuit during the '90s as a vocalist for the band Crisp.

Buck 65
Born in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Richard Terfry (aka Buck 65, Stinkin' Rich) spent the majority of his adolescence as a self-described b-boy. He eventually moved to Halifax in 1989, where he founded a seminal hip-hop show on local college radio.

Coldplay
After surfacing in 2000 with the breakthrough single "Yellow," Coldplay quickly became one of the biggest bands of the new millennium, honing a mix of introspective Brit-pop and anthemic rock that landed the British quartet a near-permanent residence on record charts world-wide.

Tommie Sunshine
With Kraftwerk, AC/DC, and Farley Jackmaster Funk as influences and a history that includes raves, parties thrown by Björk, and electroclash festivals, it shouldn't be a surprise that producer/songwriter/DJ Tommie Sunshine landed a deal in 2005 with DJ Hell's genre-mashing...

Metric
This world-weary and cultured duo honed their individual talents, Emily Haines at a Toronto art college and James Shaw at the Julliard School where he studied classical trumpet before traveling to Toronto.

Kevin Shiu

Black Mountain
After founding Jerk with a Bomb in the late '90s, Stephen McBean had by the mid-2000s transformed the Vancouver-area band into a group called Black Mountain. Drawing on blues, psychedelia, acid rock, and the Velvet Underground, Black Mountain's sound was a cross between the darkness...

The Fiery Furnaces
Restless sonic chameleons the Fiery Furnaces revolve around the brother and sister duo of Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger, whose prickly childhood relationship and musical family set the stage for their playful, unpredictable music.

Booka Shade
From their beginnings as a trancey house duo to their more mature post-millennial work that incorporates pop, ambient, techno, and funk influences, Frankfurt, Germany, duo Booka Shade has maintained an elegance of style that owes little to whatever current dance music trends are on the scene.

M.A.N.D.Y.
Friends since their teenage years and party throwers since the mid-'90s, Berlin-based DJ and production duo M.A.N.D.Y. -- Patrick Bodmer and Philipp Jung -- became visible within the dance community on a global scale shortly after the release of their first two mix albums, Get Physical...

Matisyahu
When Matisyahu emerged with his debut album, Shake Off the Dust...Arise, in 2004, his musical persona seemed to some a novelty. Here was a Hasidic Jew, dressed in a black suit with a broad-brimmed black hat worn over a yarmulke, and sporting a full, untrimmed beard, who nevertheless...

Wintersleep
With a name that fits a Nova Scotia-based band rather well, Wintersleep formed in 2001. Initially, they were part of the Nova Scotia label and artists' collective Dependent Music, which released their first two albums, 2003's Wintersleep and 2005's untitled full-length, as the band...

Annie Stela
Inspired by the likes of Elton John, Billy Joel, Tori Amos, and Ben Folds, Michigan-born songstress Annie Stela got her start writing music during her teenage years. Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit didn't provide the cultural hub Stela craved, but the budding songwriter used...

Low vs Diamond
The beginnings of Los Angeles' Low vs Diamond can be traced to early 2002 at the University of Colorado, where lead singer/guitarist Lucas Field, drummer Howie Diamond, and keyboardist Tad Moore (birth name: James Thaddeus Moore IV) were undergrads.

Deadmau5
Born Joel Zimmerman in Toronto, Canada, on January 5, 1981, Deadmau5 came to prominence when his track "Faxing Berlin" found its way onto the playlist of legendary DJ and producer Pete Tong's radio show.

The Airborne Toxic Event
Borne by aspiring novelist and writer Mikel Jollett during a tumultuous period in his life, the Airborne Toxic Event (named after a section in American authorDon DeLillo's novel -White Noise) were based in Los Angeles, and quickly made a name for themselves, earning a spot on the...

Monte Negro
The bilingual Los Angeles band Monte Negro plays an even mix of alternative rock and rock en español. The band began coming together when Mexican-American brothers Kinski Gallo (vocals) and Rodax (bass) formed the punk band Anima, which the L.

Vampire Weekend
Describing their sound as "Upper West Side Soweto," New York City's Vampire Weekend mixes preppy, well-read indie rock with joyful, Afro-pop-inspired melodies and rhythms. Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij, and Chris Tomson formed the band early in 2006, when they...

Inward Eye
Canadian trio Inward Eye have earned comparison to a number of potent high-energy rock bands of the past, including the Clash, the Jam, and the Who, and they received the seal of approval from the latter group when the Who invited Inward Eye to open for them during a 2006 tour of Canada.

Carolina Liar
The story of Carolina Liar is almost like the script to a Hollywood movie about the music industry. At the center of the group is Charleston, SC, native Chad Wolf. A singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Wolf fell under the spell of new wave through his older sister's record collection.